Automatic-attachment for pipe molding machines



Dec. 17, 1940. E A CORBIN, JR 2,225,036

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR PIPE MOLDING MACHINES Filed Aug. 4, 1939 6Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY ATTORNEY.

WN Y WNKM:

Dec. 17, 19410. 2,225,036

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT Fon PIPE MOLDIMG MACHINES E. A. coRBlN, JR

Filed Aug. 4, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 ELBERT A. COQBSN JR..

IN VENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 17, 1940. E. A. coRBlN, JR

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR PIPE MOLDING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledAug. 4, 1939 ELBERT A. CORESIN JE.

INVENTOR- ATTORNEY De@ 17, 1940' E. A. coRBlN, JR 2,225,036

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR PIPE MOLDING MACHINES Filed Aug. 4, 1939 6Sheets-Sheet 4 ELERT A. COQBIN Q2.

INVENTOR. @MAQ/7M y ATTORNEY.

Dec 17 1940- E. A. coRBlN, JR 2,225,036

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR PIPE MOLDING MACHINES Filed Aug. 4, 1939 6Sheets-Sheet 5 6 o i M wijf Iz Mr;

ELBEFZT A. CORBIN JZ.

1NVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 17, 1940. E A, CORBlN, JR 2,225,036

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR PIPE MOLDING MACHINES e sheets-sheet e FiledAug. 4v, 1939 51.5521" A. coxzm are.

zNvENToR.

Patenfea Dec. 17, 1940 i AUTOMATIC-ATTACHMENT FORBIPE `ivionnrnofMACHINES Elbert A. CorbinQJr., Lansdowne, Palgassvignor of one-half ltoWilliam'C'. Biddle, Lansdowne, Fa. f

Applica-.tion August L1, 1939,V serial 'No.1 288,288 2 claims.(01222-11) stantially mechanicalvand automatic in its entrety.My'invention still further relates to an automatic attachment of gthischaracter which greatly increases the output of the machine and by meansof which the machine is adapted for'substantially continuous operationin successivesyn'- lchronized stages or steps, and whereby the number-ofstages or steps which would be involved in` manual operationiisdecreased and the time consumed for each step or 'stage is reduced.

kMy invention still further relates to anautomatic attachment of Athiskind which can be readilyapplied to existing, manually operated pipemolding machines without any material `alteration ofy -the conventionalmachine, and which can be actuated from. any convenient source of fluidpressure. ,y v f My invention still iurtherrelates to an automatic lattachment'of this character which is adapted for-adjustable vmounting-with respect to a conventional" pipe molding machine whereby a widerange of molds for pipes of diierent diam-A feters can be convenientlymade.

`Other-novelfeatures of advantage andy construction Will be'more clearlyunderstoodfrom the following specication and the accompanying -drawingsin which: 1 f Fig. 1 represents a top plan View of a movable pipemolding machine showingv the stripping plates and patterns and with theflask removed. Fig. 1A represents a `section yon line A-YA' of Fig.' 1.i Fig. 2 represents'a top plan view of the flask adapted to bepositioned onthe molding machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.` Fig. 4 represents atop plan view of the 'machine shown in Fig. 1 with my automaticattachment applied thereto, certain parts beingV shown in section betterto illustrate details of construction, Aand the machine shownin thesqueezing position.

Fig. 5 representsa vertical sectional View on liney 5-'5 of Fig. 4showin-g the ,machine in the squeezing position. j

Fig.,5A represents, on an enlarged scale, a fragmentary view in verticalsection Vof .one of the squeeze'butt-off Vunits Vand adjacentYsprue-hole cutters and font-forming `devices showing detailsy y ofconstruction the sameshown in the inoperative position. v

Fig. 6 represents, partly in section and partly inelevation', a viewsimilar toFig. 5 showing the u machine in the peeningsposition. 5

v-Fig. 7: represents a vertical. section on line 'l-'l ofFig. 4. v n l,Fig. 8.r,epresents a view similar toFig. 'lA vtaken on line 8-f8of Fig.6. .Figi 9.1'epresents. a .View lin side elevation'oflo 'one4 of themainsupportingbrackets.

Referring to the drawingsin which like reference Vcharacters,indicatelike parts and more `particularlyto:Figs. 1, 1A,; 2 and 3whichjillustrate Ythe v.general construction of a' conventional, `Al5hand-operated, Vpipe molding machine, I0 designates the table topwhichis conventionally cast integrally with the front and rear skirts l2 -andventional adjuncts thereof heretofore ldescribed arefsupported by thelegs 26 which are provided withithe wheels 28 and the-entirepipe moldingmachine.- Ais adapted to. beA moved back and lforth onthe tracks 30.ifasat 32 area pluralityof stripper plates 34 which .L30

Secured to the -table top IB are alsoco-nventional. `The patterns areheld lin positionbytrunnions at either end of the ma-v chine' andtheyfare actuated into or out of posi- 'tion,as" hereinafter describedby` a cam-crank mechanism which, being also conventional, is not35shown. 36 designates the conventional, sectional 'flask which in thecase of pipe molding, is identical -for the cope and drag sections ofthe mold, :and which is positioned'on the stripper plates 34 AasbestseeninFigs. 5, 6, 7 and 8. l Accordingv to conventional practice thepat- -terns'z-ZU and 22 are brought into the position shown,V forinstance, in Fig. 'lY by the cam-crank .mechanism referred to andtheliiask'36 vis-manuallyi'llled with sand and-the operator thenmanyually tampsorpeen-rams the sand. As the sand lis compressed theflask l36 has to be repeatedly refilled andpeen-rammed until the sand ispacked tight up to the upper edge 38 ofthe iiask. 'Ihe operator. thenmanually strikes off excess sand before' the .flask isfsubjected tothesqueeze, buttoioperation. yThis completes the conventional v operationfor .adrag. If the flask be intended forfa. cope. the. .operator has tomount spaced spruezpins. on the stripper plates and must peenv mainsupporting brackets 40, one at each end of the machine, the shape ofwhich is best seen in Fig.: 9 and which are suitably bolted to the rearskirt |4 as at 42. Fastened to the brackets 40 are the reciprocatingtracks 44 which are ad- 1 adjustable vertically with respect to thebrackets 40 by means of the bolts 46 engaging the slotsl4`8. 50designates a yoke extending the entirerlength` of the machine (see Figs.4 and 5), this yoke being slidable in the direction of the var-row V52in the brackets 44. The yoke 50 is provided with the extensions 54 whichsupport 4at'their outer ends the secondary yoke 56 which is movable Yinthe direction of the arrow 52 with the movement y of the yoke 50. Thetracks 44 are providedwith the extension brackets 56 which support thefixed piston' rods 60 which carry the pistons 62 over which are slidablethe cylinders 64 in a manner hereinafter described, the cylinders 64being secured at their front ends to the juxtaposed ends of the yoke 50.In order to reciprocate the yokes 50' and 56 air is introduced into thecylinders 64 at their front ends 66 which brings the parts into theposition shown in Fig. 4 and in which the machine is in a position tosqueeze or butt-01T. In

.order to retract the'iyokes 50 and 56 in the opposite direction inorder to bring the machine in the'position shown in Fig. 6, in which themachine is ready for the operation of peen-ramming, air is introducedinto the 'chambers 68 of the cylinders 64, that is, on the other side ofthe pistons 62.`

The yoke 50 is rigidly mounted as far as vertical'movement is concerned,as viewed in Fig. 5, and it carries a plurality of fixed piston rods 'I0on which are xedly mounted the pistons 12.

Having sliding relation with respect to the pistons T2 are the cylinderhousings 14. The cylinder housings 'I4 are interspaced with and secured`togthe castingsfii, |8 and 80, so `that, to all in- -Atentsandpurposes, the sections '|6, 18 andl are v,integrated withieach other andwith the casings of the cylinders 'i4 to form a unitary, multiple,squeeze, butt-off construction. The castings 16,718 and 80 and theintermediate cylinder casings'|4 are provided, on their undersidewiththe p latens 82, 84, 86, 88,90 and 92,1which are bolted las at 94 (seeFig. 4). 96 designates the ask bars (Figs. 2 and 6) and in order toallow for downward movement of the platens and also to limit .downwardmovement, I'provide the recesses 98 in the castings "i6, 'i8 and 80 andinto which the top edges of the bars 96 enter when the platens aredepressed in to the squeezing, butt-off position. 'Ihe depth of therecesses 98 limits the downward movement of the platens. In order todepress the platens 82 to' 92 onto the ask 36 I introduce compressed airinto the cylinders 14 through the holes 69 in the walls of the cylindersbelow the piston 12, and, in order to elevate vthe platens from thenask, compressed air is introduced through the passage whichcommunicates through the opening |02 with the chamber |04 on the upperside of the doubleacting piston '12. In the interests` of clarity, andinasmuch as this will be known to those skilled injgthe art, I deem itunnecessary to show the air conduitsor the source of compressedair, etc.

Also carried-by vthe yokev 50 are the xed cylyistration with the flask36.

lsprue cutters ||0 are the font-forming devices ||4 which are of thegeneral shape illustrated :.inFigs. 5 and 5A. The font formers ||4 areengaged bythe vsliding sleeve ||6 the upper end of which is deflected asat ||8, and there is a spring confined between the upper ilange ||8 'andthe vstop |22. Thus, when air is introduced into the cylinders |06, thefont-forming devices ||4 are depressed into the position shown in Fig.

i 5,'and, when the air is released from the cylinders |06 'inanysuitablemanner, the springs |20 rei tract the font formers into theirinoperative position above theflask as best seen in Fig. 5A. After thesqueeze, butt-oifoperation is completed and Athe yoke 50 is retiredfrom'registration with the ask 36, `air is introduced throughl theopenings |24 into the pipes |25 which lead into the holvlow spruecutters |A |0 tov eject therefrom the sand As will best be seen fromFigs. 4 and 6 the yoke 56 carries the pneumatic peen rammers |26 whichare conventional in their structure and operation and therefore need notbe described in detail except to say that in lieu of conventionallytapered heads I have provided the peen rammers |26 with the elongatedheads |28to cover the entire length of the corresponding flask section.v

Referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that I provide the brackets |30which Aslide in the groove- |32 formed-in the bracket (see Figs. 5 and6). The

vbrackets |30 support the elongated hopper |34 which is divided into aplurality of sections by the vertical partitions |36 so as to `form aplurality of hoppers corresponding to the number of flask sectionsformed between the ilask bars 96. The hoppers :are adapted to be moved`into registration with the ask 36 by means-of the pistons |38 (Fig. 4)reciprocatingwithin the cylinders |40 which are carried in fixedposition by the brackets |42 which in turn are suitably attached to theskirt or other part of the frame or machine. In Fig. 4 the hopper |34 isshown retracted into the inoperative positio-nor out of registrationwith the flask 36. If ity is; desired to move the -hopper in thedirection of the arrow |43 in Fig. 4, air is introduced tothe cylinder|40 at the point |44 which causes the cylinder |40, which is connectedto the Yhopper-|34 at |46, vto move in the direction of the arrow thusbringing the hopper |34 into alignment with the ilask 36. In order toretract the hopper into the position shown in Fig. 4 air is introducedto the cylinder v|40 on the other side of the piston |38.

The operation is'a-s follows:

With themoldinggmachine as shown in Fig. 1, that is, with the patterns20 and 22 in proper position,the 1ilask 36Vis positioned overthepatterns as shown in Fig. 8. The hopper |34 is then advanced in thedirection of the arrow |43 under the squeeze butt-off mechanism untilitis in reg- The hopper 34, which is open at the top and bottom, inreality forms anextensionforfthe ilask 36rso thattlie amount of sandinitially introduced into the combined ask and hopperwill sufce for themaking of the mold without the necessity for replenishment. Thus,without the hopper |34, when the flask 36 is filled and the sand ispacked, it is necessary to stop and replenish the sand more than once.The hopper |34, holding more sand than is necessary to form the mold,provides the additional sand needed due to shrinkage in volume as aresult of the peen-ramming. After the hopper has been placed inposition, air is introduced into the cylinders 64 to move the yokes 56and 56 in a direction opposite to that of the arrow |43 in Fig. 4 so asto bring the pech-rammers |26 in registration with the top of thehopper. The parts now appear as shown in Fig. 8. By reference to Fig. '7it will be seen that the peen-rammers |26 are mounted in any suitablepivotal manner so as to be swingable about an arc and the operator thenguides the peen-rammers |26 over the width of the hopper as shown inFig. 8 so that the hammers |23 of the neen-rammers |26 will be broughtto play on the entire surface of the sand in the hopper. When thepeen-ramming operation is completed the hopper |34 is retracted into theposition shown in Fig. 'l and in so doing the hopper strikes off anyexcess sand from the upper surface of the flask 36 thus eliminating thenecessity of a manual strike-off operation which is a part of theconventional procedure. Air is now introduced into the cylinders 64 tomove the yokes 56 and 56 in the direction of the arrow |43 in Fig. 4 tobring the squeeze butt-01T units into registration with the flask 36 asshown in Fig. 7 and compressed air is used to press the platens, carriedby the squeeze butt-off units, on top of the respective sections of theask 36. Simultaneously with the squeeze buttoff operation air isintroduced into the cylinders |06 to force the sprue-hole cutters ||0into the sand until they come in contact with the gates |48. This formsthe sprue holes, which, as above stated, would have to be formedconventionally by means of pins mounted on the gates and subsequentlyvremoved, etc. At the same time the font-forming devices ||4 aredepressed to form cup-shaped recesses around the upper edges of thesprue holes so that the mold is ready for casting. When all theseoperations have been completed, the patterns 20 and 22, by means of thecrank mechanisms at either end (not shown) are lowered into the recessesI6 and I8 and in this way the mold itself is not in any way disturbed bythe stripping operation. The flask 36 is now ready to be removed fromthe table top 34 and the machine is ready for the beginning of a newcycle. While the sprue cutters H0 are in their vinoperative position airis blown therethrough to remove the packed sand therein.

It will thus be seen that by means of the automatic attachment embodyingmy invention the necessity of repeated lling of the ask with loose sandto provide enough sand for a finished packed mold is eliminated; thatthe manual peen-ramming is done automatically and by power; that thesqueeze butt-off is also done automatically and with power; and that thesprue holes and fonts are also formed automatically and with power andwith 'the desired exactness.

With reference to the sprue-cutting and fontformingY in molds generally,it is pointed out that the manual cutting of the sprues and the manualforming of the fonts also results in breakage or damage of the molditself and this is entirely eliminated by the use of my device. Also,the peen-ramming operation, when manually performed, is one of the mostexhaustive types of labor and, when manually performed, is not as wellperformed as with the automatic peens. I am aware that pneumaticallyoperated automatic rpeens are not new but so far they have beenavailable only on newly manufactured and very expensive machines,whereas by my invention they are embodied in an attachment which rendersthem applicable to a smaller, less expensive and older machine nowextensively in use and whichvwould otherwise have to be operatedmanually. It is pointed out, however, that conventional pneumaticpeen-rammers now available are provided with small round heads very muchon the order of a pneumatic drill and that by providing the pneumaticrammers with the elongated heads |2B (see Fig. 6) their efciency isgreatly increased. Since the peen-rammers |26 must be capable ofswinging (transversely of Fig. 8) from the right hand to the left handedge of the hopper |36, I have pivoted the yoke 56, which supports thepeen-rammers |26 on the pin 51 so that in actual operation the workerholding the yoke 56 or one of the peen-rammers |26 can swing thepeen-rammers all over the surface of the sand to be packed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic attachment for molding machines comprising bracketsadapted to be attached to said molding machine, a track carried by eachof said brackets, a pair of horizontally spaced and rigidlyinterconnected yokes mounted above said molding machine and reciprocableon said tracks, peen rammers carried by one of said yokes, squeezebutt-offs carried by the other of said yokes, means for reciprocatingsaid yokes on said tracks successively to bring said peen rammers andsaid squeeze butt-offs into and out of registration with a flask mountedon said molding machine and means for actuating said peen rammers andsaid squeeze butt-offs.

2. An automatic attachment for molding machines comprising bracketsadapted to be attached to said molding machine, a track carried by eachof said brackets, a pair of horizontally spaced and rigidlyinterconnected yokes mounted above said molding machine and reciprocableon said tracks, peen rammers carried by one of said yokes, squeezebutt-offs carried by the other of said yokes, means for reciprocatingsaid yokes on said tracks successively to bring said peen rammers andsaid squeeze butt-offs into and out of registration with a nask mountedon said molding machine, means for actuating said peen rammers and saidsqueeze butt-offs, auxiliary tracks carried by said brackets, a hopperhorizontally reciprocable on said auxiliary tracks, and means forreciprocating said hopper into and out of registration with said ask. y

ELBERT A. CORBIN. JR.

